Tuesday, June 17, 2014

The end of the school year is nearing in New York State.Graduation is just around the corner.The time approached yesterday when I take my yearly journey to my desk and gather
another bunch of letters to mail.Mailing these letters marks for me another end of a high school era for
a group of students I once taught.

During all of the years that I have taught grades five and
above, a closing activity that my classes have done as the year draws to a
close is a special letter writing activity.The students write a letter to themselves—their high school graduating
self or their college graduating self (depending on the age of the
students).They write about what it is
like to be a fifth grader (or whatever grade I was currently teaching).They write about things they hope they did in
the time between the letter and when they receive it.They write about the hopes they have for
their future.Students give me the
letters addressed to a stable home (grandparents, mom and dad) and I put a Forever
stamp on it.I wrap the stacked letters
in a bow and put a sticky on that says something like, “mail for graduation,
2014.”

This week I pulled the letters for this year out of my desk.I look at each envelope and remember the
fifth grade child.Then I put my return
address on each envelope and on the flip side wrote a simple message—“Happy
graduation.Write back!”

This has been a tradition for many of my years of
teaching.I still have three packets of
letters in my desk, the letters stopping with my move to primary grades and
then to administration.These letters
have been links I have made with my students.They link me to an older version of the students I once knew.They link them to themselves—a younger child
to the older, graduating young adult.I
love the responses I will soon receive through the mail.I love imagining the surprise on the senior’s
face as s/he opens a letter from long ago and long forgotten.

The end of a school year is upon us.For the seniors that will soon be receiving
their letters, the end of their public schooling is upon them.Congratulations to my students from long
ago.May you begin this new era with strong
dreams, joy and the knowledge you received from your schooling and life.May you leap into your future with these gifts
tied into a bow to be successful and happy in whatever you choose do do!